Plans for the future: is your archive ready for a repeat client, a lawsuit, or posterity? - practice

Residential Architect, May, 2003 by Cheryl Weber

"The language in our contract was more general, so we developed this in letter form to give with the electronic information," says principal John Cottle, AIA.

When it comes to clients, Cohen believes architects are missing an opportunity to package project information and get paid for it. With the increase in design/build projects, it's one of the ways architects can reassert some control, he says. "Ideally, all the data on a project's changes and substitutions during construction would come back to the architect, who would create an as-built condition of the building. That becomes a very valuable thing for the owner to have."

In Cohens mind, the client would be handed a CD-ROM of not just project drawings but operation manuals for the appliances, the furnace, the air conditioner, the pool filter, the audiovisual system, and the burglar alarm--"things that people keep in shoe boxes. Wouldn't it be great," he says, "if someone got a CD-ROM of their house that they could navigate with a Web browser and see schematics of the heating system, read product manuals, and keep track of warranties?"

Now, that's archiving for the future.

RELATED ARTICLE: Biding time.

how long are you to keep project Documents? The laws vary by project and by state. Whereas public work is regulated--in Massachusetts, records of public buildings with contract fees over $100.000 must be retained for six years after final payment--no such laws apply to residential work. "The amount of time you choose to keep residential documents is partly a matter of managing your risks," says attorney Kathleen Hunter, Hunter Law, Cohasset, Mass.

Check with an attorney where you practice to find out how long after a project is finished you can be held liable for defects. Each state spells out its own statute of limitations and statute of repose, which are procedures that govern the time in which legal action must be started. "A statute of limitations measures time by a specific number of years starting when the client discovers a defect. But the statute of repose usually shortens that time by also measuring it from the date a project is completed." Hunter says. In Massachusetts. for instance, the statute of limitations requires that legal action be started within three years from the time the plaintiff becomes aware of a problem, but the statute of repose limits the time frame to six years from the point of substantial completion.

Your attorney should also let you know what kind of archival medium is required in the states in which you work. "We just worked in Massachusetts, which requires a paper archive," says Darren Rizza, AIA, chief information officer for Swanke Hayden Connell Architects, New York City. "Your archiving process could be this beautiful electronic system, but ultimately you need a piece of paper."--c.w.

Cheryl Weber is a contributing writer in Severna Park, Md.